Not Just Friends (Brookfield) (7 page)

Zoe
settled in Alyssa’s lap. Of course, now was the time the cat wanted to cuddle.

“You
were right. They fit.” Connor walked in.

She
suppressed a giggled at the sight of him in a button-down shirt and sweatpants.
“I said they would.”

“Look
at this pretty girl.” He knelt down next to Zoe. “Aren’t you a beauty? You take
after your mommy.”

Alyssa
laughed. “Do you make it a habit to talk to animals?”

“Any
chance I get. They always listen.”

“And
here I was worried you’d think I was a nut job if you caught me talking to
her.”

Connor
sat down next to her. “So, did I clear up why I was stopping by today?”

“Yes.”

Connor
took her hand in his. “I’d like to be more than friends with you. Do you think
we can do that?”

“I
think so.”

“Good.
I was hoping you’d say that.”

“Kiss
me,” she whispered.

“Gladly.”

As
his lips met hers, her breath caught in her throat. It was a kiss to show he
cared and the passion he felt for her. She knew it wasn’t going to lead
anywhere. Having a cat in her lap that wouldn’t budge also confirmed that.

Connor
pulled back and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m going to head out. But I
want to see you soon. Tomorrow for lunch?”

“I
think I can manage a late lunch. Tina’s coming in at eleven and we usually get
a little busy around noon when church gets out. Two?”

“Perfect.
I’ll pick you up.”

“I
can meet you wherever we go.”

“I
like having you in my passenger seat.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

She
nodded.

“And
tell your brother about Matt.” Connor left through the door that would lead him
back to the bookstore.

Alyssa
giggled, wondering if Tina would notice he came in khakis and left in sweats.
Tiredness swept over her and she decided to cuddle up with Zoe and take a short
nap. She started to move so she could lie down. She pulled the cat with her.
But instead of lying back down, the cat jumped off the couch and looked back at
her with her bright green eyes as though she were evil. Cats, she would never
fully understand them.

* * * *

“Matt’s
back in town,” Alyssa proceeded to tell Cody over the phone.

“Yeah,
that doesn’t surprise me. I figured he’d show up eventually. What’s he want?”
Cody asked.

“Me.”

“Tell
me you aren’t going back down that street.”

“I’m
not, but he thinks he can convince me that we are.”

“What
do you mean?”

Taking
a deep breath, she said, “He was a little more forceful than I would’ve liked the
other night.”

“Forceful
how?” She could hear the concern in his voice.

“Just
that he wanted a kiss and I didn’t want to. He held on to my wrist and begged
me. Thankfully, Connor showed up right then and stopped Matt.”

Cody
sighed. “I’ll have a talk with Matt and see what’s going on. I’m surprised you
even let him in after what he did to you. You haven’t even forgiven Diane.”

“I’m
not mad at Diane for what happened with Matt. Our issues go back a whole lot further
than that and you know it. We’ve never gotten along and we probably never
will.”

“I
wish you two would.”

“I
know and sometimes I do as well.”Alyssa wasn’t sure if it was the age
difference or what. But they had never been able to be in a room together for
more than twenty minutes without arguing.

“I’ll
find Matt and talk to him. In the meantime, stay away from him. If he bothers
you again, we’ll get him for harassment.”

Harassment.
He wasn’t really doing that, was he?
No
. He simply wanted to work things
out and didn’t like hearing she had moved on. She was sure after seeing her
with Connor again, he’d back off. “I doubt it’ll go that far. In fact, I’m sure,
since he knows Connor and I are an item, he’ll back off.”

Her
brother groaned again. “Connor and you are an item now?”

“Yes,
he likes me. Can you believe it?” She squealed.

“Please
be careful.”

“I
will. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I’m
a police officer. I always worry. There are some weirdos out there. And after
the scare with Ava and her ex taking her hostage, I don’t take what Matt’s doing
lightly.”

“Matt
would never go to that extent,” she reassured him.

“We’re
not going to argue. Call me if you have a run-in again with Matt, okay?”

“Promise.
Well, I need to run downstairs and do the inventory. I let Tina close tonight,
but I want to double check, just in case.”

“All
right. Have a good evening.”

“You
too. Bye.” She touched the
end
button on the screen to her phone.

A
few minutes later she was in her shop. Tina had done a great job, or so, it
looked. The verdict was still out, but Alyssa was certain everything would be
fine. She walked up and down the aisles, letting her fingers run along the
spines. All the books were in place. At the front, she looked through the ledgers
they recorded financial stuff in. It appeared everything was how it was supposed
to be.

She
could tell it had been vacuumed and it even looked like Tina had taken the
duster out. She had done a great job and Alyssa was going to let her know the
next morning. She checked the front door and found it locked.

Gazing
out at the town, she saw a light snow was falling. The weatherman had predicted
a dusting, not much. Which was good. She was ready for spring.

Alyssa
headed back up to her apartment. She’d brought a book up earlier that she was
going to read for a bit since she’d taken her nap. Closing the door and locking
it from her side, she went to the kitchen first and grabbed a snack.

On
the coffee table, she saw her phone was blinking. Picking it up, it alerted her
she’d missed a call. But when she saw who had called, she wondered if this day
was going to get any stranger. Diane had called. First Matt and now Diane. What
in the world was going on?

Diane
had at least left a voicemail. Taking a deep breath, Alyssa held down the
button that would take her to the message.

“
Hi,
Alyssa, it’s your favorite sister. I keep meaning to call, but you know, life
gets in the way. Anyway, I’m looking for Matt and was wondering if you’d seen
him or not. We’ve been seeing one another and well, after I gave him some news,
he just kinda took off. Call me when you can and if you’ve seen Matt, send him
home.”

Matt
and Diane had been seeing one another? And he was at her house wanting to get
back together with her? Alyssa sat down on the couch, wondering if Cody knew
about this. She’d call her sister back tomorrow. Right now she had to let this
sink in.

Chapter Nine

The
morning had been chaos and Alyssa was thankful when she saw Connor enter the
bookstore. Not only because she’d have a chance to spend some time with him,
but it meant she got to leave.

They
weren’t usually busy on Sunday mornings, but word was spreading fast about the
upcoming visit from the author. People were coming in for info, such as how to
get her book ahead of time, and how much a signed book would cost. She called
Julie and asked her to bring some flyers by, containing all the answers. Julie
had ordered a big box of books for her to have there this week, but they had
yet to arrive. Hopefully tomorrow. But business was good and it kept her mind
off her sister and ex.

After
lunch with Connor, she planned to call Cody and see what he could tell her so
she wasn’t in the dark when she talked to Diane.

“Hi,”
she said to Connor as he approached.

“You
look tired.”

“I
am. It’s been busy. I’m starving.” She turned to Tina. “You sure you got this?”

“Yeah,
go enjoy lunch. Julie’s coming by anyway, you said. If it gets crazy, I’m sure
she’ll help.”

“Call
me if it does, okay? I don’t want you to stress.”

Tina
smiled and looked at Connor. “I’ll be fine.”

Connor
leaned forward and kissed Alyssa’s cheek. “You heard her. Let’s go.”

Alyssa
was not used to him being so close. It was as though overnight they went from
friends tiptoeing around one another to this. Whatever
this
was. Then
she remembered that
this
was something good.

“Where
would you like to go?” he asked as they walked out of The Reading Corner.

“Somewhere
we can walk.”

He
held his arm out to her and she wrapped her hands in the crook of it. “Which
way?”

“Let’s
go to the small sandwich store a few shops down.”

They
started that way and silence stood between them. Alyssa wasn’t worried though.
Sometimes it was nice to be with someone and not have to fill the time with
words. From the corner of her eye, she could see the smile on his face. He was
happy, at least, and so was she.

At
the deli, he opened the door for her, allowing her to enter first. They approached
the counter. She decided to get an egg salad sandwich with fresh homemade
chips. After they had their food, they sat at a small table in the corner.

“Do
you eat here much?” Connor asked.

“I
do. Wait until you try the chips. They’re really good.”

Connor
took her suggestion and bit into one. “You’re right.”

She
grinned and then felt the urge to visit the lady’s room. “Watch my food please.
I’ll be right back.”

* * * *

Connor
watched as Alyssa went to the restroom. He took another bite of a chip. They
really were good. He’d have to figure out how to make these. Or make this place
a weekly stop. He’d never tried it and now knew what he’d been missing.

It
was taking every ounce of his control not to lure her back to his place. In the
past, he’d never cared about how much time it took to get a woman into bed.
That was the sole goal. Get the girl naked and flat on her back. That was one
of the goals with Alyssa as well, but on the backburner. She was special and he
wanted much more with her than sex.

Something
was off with her today. She was always quiet and he liked that about her. But
he could see the wheels turning in her head and he wondered if it had anything
to do with that ex of hers who was hanging around. Men didn’t come back for no
reason. And Connor hated that he had competition. Though the man had cheated on
Alyssa, so how much competition could he really be?

She
returned and took her seat. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s
no problem at all. Though I can’t say the same for your food.”

Her
eyes lit up.

“It
tried to get up and leave.”

Alyssa
giggled. “I’m sorry it was so hard on you.”

He
took a bite of his sandwich and waved his hand. “Anything for you.”

“My
knight in shining armor.”

“We’re
real, not just in books.” He watched as she laughed a little more and returned
to her food. He liked seeing her happy and even better, he liked knowing he had
put that smile there.

After
a few more moments of silence, she broke it. “I talked to Cody as you asked.
He’s going to talk to Matt.”

“Oh
good.”

“My
sister called as well.”

“That’s
great,” he said, but noticed she didn’t look happy about it. “I take it that it
isn’t great.”

“We’ll
never be close and I expect that. We’re nothing alike and have a good age gap
between us.”

“I
sense a but.”

Alyssa
smiled. “In her voicemail, she said she was seeing Matt and couldn’t find him
and for me to call her if I see him. I know I need to call her, but it’s
shocking to know they’ve been seeing one another. Matt made it sound like he
hadn’t seen her since the kiss. And no one has told me they were together. I
wonder if Cody knew and never said anything. And if so, I’m really upset about
it.”

“You
have every right to be. That’s a big secret to keep from you.”

“Cody
and I are close. I can’t see him keeping it from me.”

“Maybe
he didn’t know either. Does Diane talk to him?” He took a bite of another chip.

“Not
often.”

“Don’t
be mad at him until you talk to him and know everything.”

She
nodded. “You’re right.”

“Words
a man doesn’t hear often.”

Alyssa
took a sip of her drink and grinned as she shook her head. “Thank you for
listening and making me smile.”